Word-of-Mouth Communication Study

Saturday, April 03, 2010

Thanks for visiting! To read my most recent thoughts on word of mouth communication research and measurement please visit my new blog home at ChatThreads Chatterbox. Existing content will remain here as an archive but comments have been disabled.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

You should be calling in to the free webinar I am doing (courtesy of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association) on how to measure the value of consumer conversations. It's free whether you are a WOMMA member or not. Here's the official blurb:

Whether the days are cloudy or sunny, or your brand is in or out of the money, measuring the value of word of mouth (WOM) has become a strategic imperative. This webinar will guide participants through five ways that consumer conversations impact a brand’s bottom line and offers specific tips and techniques to assess the value of WOM to your brand.

Monday, February 16, 2009

If you haven't heard yet be sure to check out Emanuel Rosen's newly revised book The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited. I have long advocated the original version of the book and have used it in teaching my classes on word of mouth and social media. I would tell people that if they could only read one book on WOM marketing to read this one. But after talking with Emanuel about his plans to rewrite the original and being interviewed for it I am now recommending that people read the new version. Here's the marketing blurb I wrote for it:

"I'm sorry to say I can't recommend The Anatomy of Buzz as my top pick anymore. There's something better out there and it's called The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited. Like its predecessor, it's accessible, compelling, and is based on solid principles of how word of mouth works, but this book has been completely revamped to include fresh material, new topics, and the latest research."

Saturday, October 11, 2008

It used to be: "Facebook is a social utility that connects you to the people around you."

Now it's: "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life."

Rather than describing what it is AND what it does, it now just describes what it does. In this case, I think it's a better move because most people never really understood what a "social utility" is. Plus, it shifts the locus of agency from Facebook to you, the user.

If anyone knows of any other self-descriptions Facebook had throughout its history please mention in the comments.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

There's a fascinating article in the New York Times about how Unilver is attempting to map the spread of conversations about their Vaseline lotion, Clinical Therapy, in an Alaskan town.

Through mapping the conversations Unilever was able to identify a network hub, Petal Ruch, who was apparently the most well-connected town resident. Unilever's advertising agency and production company then built a marketing campaign around her story.

About Me

I am founder and Chief Research Officer at ChatThreads Corp., an innovative word of mouth research firm that provides independent, third-party measurement services and derives actionable insights from how WOM communication spreads among individuals and social networks. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and my master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.